Entries in music supervisor
(4)

There has been a great deal of buzz about music licensing in recent years, and with good reason! Compared to other revenue streams, licensing can have potentially big payouts for indie musicians. It’s also a pretty confusing aspect of the music industry. Just how exactly do songs get on those TV shows? The conductors behind those licenses are music supervisors.

What is a Music Supervisor?

Music supervisors oversee the music-related aspects of TV, films, and video games. They are in charge of interpreting the producer’s vision, finding the right track, and negotiating the contract with the artists. Of course, there are MILLIONS of songs out there, so finding the right one is no easy task. On top of that, licensing for use in visual mediums is a juggling act, with as many as eight separate deals depending on how many parties are involved (songwriter, recording artist, record label, publishing company, etc.) and how the song will be used.

The job title loosely describes what being a music supervisor is about. If you think that their job entails them sitting back and watching others do work you are mistaken. In fact they have several responsibilities that they must complete. Music supervisors are often present during the creative process, working closely with the artist, guiding the project towards a future movie, commercial, TV pilot or video game.

Following on from our Getting Music Placed in Film / TV post, many of our community were interested to find out more about the role of licensing’s gatekeepers – better known as music supervisors.

To get the lowdown, we spoke with the wonderful Season Kent - Music Supervisor at Clear Songs. Her recent projects include: The Fighter, Limitless,Dear John, Revenge, Macgruber, The Strangers and more.

We spoke with Josh Kessler, VP of Business Development for Downtown Music’s licensing agency dms.FM. Josh has been involved with the placement of huge artists into games like FIFA Street, Saints Row, MLB 2K, and Guitar Hero.

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